I know a guy who is from Brazil, he was utterly shocked that honesty boxes existed. I doubt they are universal. And they probably require a high trust society.
If you put one of these here in Buenos Aires, I expect it to dissapear in an hour.
But a long time ago I went with my wife for a few weeks to a small town in the mountais in the Cordoba(AR) province. We left the bikes unchained an unatended for hours. I expect a honesty box to be possible there. Except during weekends, when it get's full of turists.